


leather and roses

by nazuniichans



Series: shunazu posi week [2]
Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: A little bit of angst, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Stupid Arguments, first date but not really, they are so dumb, your typical 'shunazu are idiots' tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 21:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18352157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nazuniichans/pseuds/nazuniichans
Summary: rival college professor au where nazuna and shu are rivaling against eachother to win a writing competiton. shu takes it too seriously and ends up losing a bet to take nazuna on a date.orshu itsuki can't cope with gay feelings normally, but that's just canon.prompt "flowers" for shunazu posi week, even if it's only mentioned like. once. help.





	leather and roses

The smell of books was a scent that Shu Itsuki had religiously enjoyed. To no one’s surprise, almost all of his work or living spaces smelled like some sort of old-fashioned novelty, including his classroom. As an English professor, it was expected, in the least, for Shu to have some sort of attachment to the words between leather covers. He supposed that’s where his love for the smell came from, and Nazuna, sharing that same passion, came to indulge in it as well.

 

The two were colleagues and now hold the same position as English professors at one of the local universities. Shu, except, taught the more advanced honors classes and Nazuna did the regular classes. Nazuna was content with that too; he didn’t really want an unnecessary workload and Shu taking on the extra 3 honors classes was too much in his opinion. Shu seemed to enjoy the work though. For as long as Nazuna knew, Shu always enjoyed correcting people and spouting knowledge about topics he was passionate about. When they were good friends in college, Nazuna would be subjected to his ramblings and more often than not, he’d actually find himself paying attention. He enjoyed listening to Shu talk, however… the man was  _ insufferable _ at times, and frankly, Nazuna really wanted to step on his foot every now and then. 

 

“-npai? Nito-senpai?” 

 

_ Eh? _

 

“Nito-senpai, here is my assignment from the other day. You had said I could turn it in late since I was sick?” A female student had said, holding out a neat stack of papers towards Nazuna now. The blond blinked, still not up to date with reality, before the gears in his head started turning. 

 

“A-Ah! Right. I’m sorry about that; I was a little spaced out.” He stammered an apology, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. He stared at the young lady for a moment before reaching his hand out to take the paperwork from her, just simply putting it down on his desk in front of him. “ I’ll post your grade very soon once I get around to grading it.” 

 

She bowed her head gracefully towards him and gave her teacher a smile.

 

“Thank you, senpai. I appreciate you working with me. My last professor wasn’t as kind as you,” she praised him lightly. Nazuna waved her off with a small laugh, a smile spreading across his lips.

 

“Ah, don’t mention it~  ♪. As a professor, it’s my job to ensure my students end up successful and it cannot be helped if illness prevent that from happening!” Nazuna replied sheepishly, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. His student bowed once more to him before walking towards the door. Nazuna made quick work of opening the paperwork that was given to him, not quite paying attention to the world around him and how another body passed into his room, just as his student was leaving.

 

“Pardon.” Another voice was heard now and precise footsteps were heard, getting louder with every step they got closer. Nazuna knew the voice, knew the steps, well enough to where he didn’t  _ have  _ to look up but did anyway. 

 

“Nito.” Shu had said, standing in front of his desk now.

 

“Itsuki.” Nazuna responded, violet meeting red. 

 

“I saw several of your students have entered the writing competition for this weekend. You do realize that it is rather futile for them to do so when the team of the participants I have picked out for it is all my honor students, correct?”

 

Nazuna sighed, shifting back in his desk chair and folding his arms across his chest now.

 

“If they want to enter, why not? We have enough students this year to make a team. I’m happy that they want to participate.” He replied dryly. Shu had a scowl on his face, but his eyes held no resentment. 

 

_ Itsuki.. You are rather transparent.  _

 

“Last year they ended up simply giving the reward to me since you did not have a team to participate. Are you even prepared to win this?” 

 

Was Shu trying to threatening him over a  _ gift certificate _ to Barnes and Nobles?

 

Nazuna inwardly facepalmed.

 

“I don’t care if I win the reward; I just want my students to have fun. It’s not fun when you’re forced to participate.” Nazuna jabbed at Shu now, knowing well enough that the reason Shu won last year was due to him  _ forcibly _ putting a team together for a grade. 

 

“Insanity. Nito, you should care more about your reputation as a professor. It won’t look good if you lose twice in a row.”

 

Nazuna’s blond eyebrows furrowed now, annoyance shown over his features. He swallowed back the ‘piss off’ he so desperately wanted to vocalize. Who was he to say he looked bad or not as a professor?

 

“I will win.” 

 

“Doubtful.”

 

Another twitch of his eyebrow.

 

“What makes you think I can’t?” He asks, regretting the question immediately as it rolled off his tongue.

 

“Your work ethic, of course.”

 

Oh. Nazuna was pissed now. He always did these sort of things to provoke Nazuna into getting motivated, but more often than not, he found it annoying. They’ve always had that sort of dynamic. Shu pressing Nazuna’s buttons, Nazuna getting angry, and then Nazuna proving Shu wrong. It was sort of hilarious that every time Shu would come up to him like this, he would always be wrong. Every time. Without fail. And every time, Shu would get dramatic about it, claim Nazuna was rigging the circumstances, or ‘changing the path the heavens have laid it out to be’, as Shu would put it. Nazuna decided to bite his tongue at the work ethic comment and instead glared up at the taller man, red daggers firing from his eyes. 

 

“Okay,  _ okay _ , Itsuki.” Nazuna stood up now, creeping around his desk as he walked around it towards where Shu stood now. He instantly straightened up as Nazuna approached. “If I win, you have to take me out to dinner.” He said, deadpanned.

 

“....Excuse me?”

 

“What’s wrong, Itsuki? Afraid I’ll win?”

 

Shu noticeably started to sweat and panic, cause the next thing that came out of his mouth was:

 

“Non! Fine, Nito, deal. If I win, which I will, you have to admit that I was right in coming here and telling you it was futile.”

 

Nazuna resisted the urge to step on his foot. He pressed his lips together.

 

“Fine. Deal.”

 

Silence for a moment before Shu opened his mouth again. Nazuna wished he wouldn’t, because knowing him, it’d be something sassy and Nazuna wasn’t sure if he could hold back from the need to want to stomp on-

 

“...Good luck, Nito.” Shu said, before briskly walking past the shorter of the two, with so much as a brush of a shoulder before he was out the door again and Nazuna was left with just the sound of the door clicking shut and the sound of his own breathing. 

 

_ Eh? Good luck..? He’s never… wished him good luck before…  _

 

Nazuna whirled around to stare at the door before dropping his eyes down to the floor before promptly returning back to his desk to go back to grading papers.

 

…

 

A week past by like nothing, and Nazuna wasn’t even aware today was the day the writing competition results would be out. He even had helped some of his students with it, proofread over some stories, and helped the team under his name submit their final works. However, winning isn't Nazuna top concern at the moment, so it slipped his mind. Shu, on the other hand, religiously stuck his hand in the works of his students and was on top of it any chance he could get. Every time they saw each other throughout the week, it was all he could bring up to Nazuna, reminding him about it over and over again, which promptly got him an ‘I know, Itsuki,’ response every time.

 

With a chilly sigh, Nazuna approached his building on campus, hands full. With coffee in one hand, paperwork in the other, it was going to be a challenge to open the door, he noted. He prepared to shuffle the things over in his hands to reach towards the handle, but a slender hand came out and held the door open for him instead. Nazuna’s eyebrows twitched at that, eyes glancing up at Shu, who was staring down at him with... that weird, creepy face he usually gets when he’s excited about something. 

 

He was dressed prim and clean, like always. Maroon suit clinging to his long figure, adorned with a black tie that was neatly tucked inside of his blazer. Pink hair was perfectly parted to the side, not a hair out of place. But then again, Shu was always like this. Always perfection. It was a great contrast to Nazuna, who just had a comfy grey sweater lazily thrown on over some black pants and his blond hair was fuzzy and stuck in all directions under a matching grey beanie. Not that Nazuna was messy; he just didn’t care to go out of his way to dress incredibly nice for class. He supposed maybe that made him ‘unprofessional’ in the eyes of Shu, but that didn’t matter.

 

“After you, Nito,” the taller of the two had said, gesturing for Nazuna to walk inside first. Nazuna pouted a little bit at the help but walked in anyway, mumbling a ‘thank you’ under his breath as he stepped inside the warmer building. A group of students surrounded a billboard in the lounge area, and both Nazuna and Shu took a glance at each other before walking over to it together.

 

“Ah, Nito, are you prepared to tell me I was right all along? I am rather enthusiastic to see these results. My students all worked very diligently to deliver the best results, indeed. So diligently that I had no choice but to praise them! Kakaka!” Laughter rang from Shu and several students turned around to glance back at him now, eyes worrying. Nazuna wanted to hide behind his coffee cup right now, but instead just raised it to his lips and silently sipped it. 

 

“Pardon me, children! I wish to see the results!” Shu announced, embarrassingly loud, and he pushed through the crowd to unpin the sheet with the results from the billboard. 

 

“Is he really that excited over that  _ Barnes and Noble _ gift certificate again?” A student had whispered, a giggle leaving their lips. 

 

“NON!” Shu shouted suddenly, hand in his hair, making it unruly. His violet eyes wide with shock before a familiar head of black, messy hair poked around the corner, surveying the scene for a moment. The tuft of hair belonged to none other than Mika Kagehira, who was a younger, new English professor, who shared the English department with Shu and Nazuna.

 

“Nnagh? What are ya yellin’ about now, Oshi-san?” He spoke now and was now bouncing over towards the group. Mika took the paper from an exasperated Shu, mismatched eyes peering over the paper before they lit up, giving Shu the biggest, shit-eating grin had ever Nazuna seen. The blond simply watched with tired red eyes, sipping quietly on his, notably, tasty coffee. 

 

“Ehe, it’s lookin’ like Nito-senpai’s class had won th’ competition.. ‘m class was second... and yours was last, Oshi-san. Nito-senpai’s group with Tenma, Shino, and Mashiro had gotten the most votes.” Mika had said out loud and suddenly, Nazuna was interested in this news. 

 

_ So he had won, huh..? _ Nazuna was now looking at Shu with devilish eyes. 

 

Shu looked panicked as his violet eyes scanned the crowd and then fell on Nito, before his entire face went red, throwing his hands up in the air before folding them across his chest. 

 

“Non! This can’t be… I will be sure to bring this up to the faculty responsible for this error!”

 

“But ya know, these results are by students. Can’t really go ‘round changin’ th-”

 

“NON! It will be changed!” Shu had said and turned on his heel to rush down the hall, but not before snatching the paper from Mika’s hands. Mika just shook his head before walking over to Nazuna, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

 

“Hey, Nito-senpai, congrats. It ain’t really a big deal for us teachers, but yer kids deserve it ‘m sure.” He said gently. Nazuna had made sure to give him an appreciative smile.

 

“Thank you, Kagehira. I didn’t really do that much, just watched over my kids.” Nazuna took another sip of his coffee, staring down at the lid in thought. He was wondering why Itsuki had such an extreme reaction to Nazuna winning. It wasn’t like he was going to get self-deprecating and wonder if his work ethic really  _ was  _ that bad, and more so stuck with the fact that Shu’s pride was probably wounded. Nazuna still wondered though. Was it really that serious? Then again, Shu  _ was  _ the most overdramatic person he knew. 

 

Mika probably noticed Nazuna’s lack of attentiveness and patted his shoulder again. 

 

“Don’t mind, Itsuki. He wanted ya to win, even if he doesn’t wanna admit it. He jus’ has an odd way of showin’ that sort of stuff. ‘M sure he’ll come runnin’ to congratulate ya once he double checks th’ results.” 

 

Nazuna smiled at that, bowing his head in thanks.

 

“Thank you, Kagehira,” he repeated, softer this time. Shu  _ surely _ did have a weird way to show these things. Mika offered him another smile before walking towards his classroom now, and Nazuna did the same, making sure to toss his empty coffee cup in the trash now. 

 

…

 

The day passed almost as fast as he felt the week did and Nazuna found himself in front of Shu’s classroom at the end of the school day. Nazuna felt his own heartbeat inside of his chest as he turned the doorknob, entering the spacious and very organized lecture hall. Shu’s classroom was obviously a lot bigger than his own since he did honors classes and hosted a majority of the lectures. Nazuna had a stereotypical, normal classroom, but that’s what he enjoyed. Something as grand as this was out of his league, admittedly. 

 

“How many times must I tell you children to kn-” Shu’s purple gaze raised up to spy a tiny blond walking towards him, and Shu scrambled to his feet. 

 

“N-Nito! You must be here to… receive your reward.” Shu stammered before he inhaled deeply, looking at the blond. Nazuna just tilted his head to the side, waiting patiently for the other to say more. Shu noticeably got more flustered from the other’s silence, and instead crossed his arms over his own chest, a stubborn pout evident on his face.

 

“Although I believe it was completely and utterly rigged, I must congratulate you, Nito. Your students had beaten mine and I accept that.” Nazuna glared at him now, eyes squinting at the taller man.

 

“I mean- Nito, you did well to raise your children to beat mine. Even if-” Nazuna’s eyes squinted harder now. 

 

“Nito, you-” More squinting.

 

A sigh left Shu’s lips and a light dust of pink was forming across the planes of his cheeks, complimenting his pink hair. 

 

“You beat me fair and square. I sincerely congratulate you.” He finally said, holding his hand out for a handshake. “Send my greatest regards to your children for producing such an elegant piece of writing.”

 

Nazuna stared down at his hand wordlessly before taking it, clasping their hands together, expression unreadable.

 

“Thank you, Itsuki.” He said, appreciation coating his words. Shu couldn’t help but smile towards the other before suddenly scrambling back towards his desk. With his back turned, Nazuna couldn’t see what he was doing but it was fast because Shu was turning around again, this time with a single red rose in his hand. Nazuna’s eyes widened a little at the sight before Shu extended it out towards him. 

 

“For.. winning.” 

 

Nazuna carefully reached out and took the rose from him, tucking it close to his body with a soft smile.

 

“..Thank you. But you still owe me dinner.” Nazuna said pointedly. Smile as angelic as ever. Shu’s face contorted into one of embarrassment, scrunching up his forehead.

 

“A-Ah.. Right. Well, Nito, when are you available?”

 

A simple pause but Nazuna was quick to answer.

 

“Hm. Tonight.” Nazuna said, suddenly. Theoretical tea spat from Shu’s mouth at his response. He was simply exasperated. He made a noise of annoyance, clicking his tongue at the blond. 

 

“You’re insatiable, aren’t you?” Shu commented, before sighing. “I suppose it can’t be helped. I’ll pick you up tonight. Be ready at 7.” 

 

…

 

So Shu was nervous. Very nervous. His many-year-long crush on Nito was bubbling to it’s expected explosive ending. Surely.. Once this date or dinner, he supposed, was over, he’d have to move on and let the other man go. Shu had tried to before, knowing such fleeting feelings were... Not reciprocated. Nito was always so perfect to him. His best friend of many years, before Shu had isolated himself after coming to terms with the fact that he  _ did _ indeed have feelings for the blond. Facing Nito every day with those fluttering feelings, the blossoming of love that spread fiery hot beautifully through his chest every time he got to see the other smile, the increase in heart rate when he imagined holding those small hands and pressing kisses onto the soft skin…

 

Distancing himself had always been easier. Easier than dealing with whatever this was. Being cold was the only way Shu could possibly think to deal with it. 

 

_ Nito, I am truly sorry. You were probably so confused. Our daily coffee dates together suddenly stopped and I didn’t even tell you why. _

 

So if Shu could indulge just once, even if he didn’t deserve that, a night to have Nito to himself... he would be satisfied with keeping the other at arm’s length for the rest of his life. So long as Nito would stay… but he would understand if that wasn’t what the other wanted. These thoughts had Shu fumbling with his tie, lacking elegance and grace. He should probably go pick up Nito now though… thinking foolishly would just hinder his precious time with him+. 

 

With a shaky sigh, Shu was grabbing his keys and heading out the door of his home now, red eyes and a cute smile on his mind. 

 

…

 

“Reservation of two for Itsuki, please.” Shu had spoken to a hostess under the dim lights of the restaurant they now stood in. A quick check up to the reservation list and the pair was being led to the back of the restaurant. Nazuna’s red eyes searched around before he frowned a little, but not because he was displeased.

 

“Itsuki… You didn’t have to do all of this. I would have been fine with getting some fast food or something…” The blond had a hint of pink flushed across his cheeks, taking interest in Shu’s back while they walked towards a semi-secluded booth. Nazuna warily sat down, eyes staying away from Shu as he picked up his menu despite the protest. 

 

“Non.” Shu said a little bluntly, before lowering his own menu that he had already picked up and begun scanning through. “It is only fair, Nito. Admittedly… I was unnecessarily harsh on you, so accept this as an apology. Choose what you want tonight, alright?” His tone was… soft. Nazuna’s lips parted to protest the words but was lacking the drive to shoot back something witty or clever to put Shu on the spot, so he decided to close his mouth and try to process the kanji infront of him.

 

It was awkward. Painfully. They sat there in silence for about 4 minutes before Shu was clearing his throat, inspecting the blond, who was still reading. 

 

“Nito… have you decided what you would like? Do not be shy.” 

 

To be honest, Nazuna’s mind was going too fast to even begin to process the concept of written language, heart hammering, so despite him religiously reading over the menu… he still had no clue what he wanted. Nazuna swallowed past the lump in his throat, huffing quietly.

 

“Ah… No…” Nazuna folded the menu now, placing it in the middle of the table. “You pick for me, ok?”

 

“Nonsense. I would not want to order something you would dislike.” Shu was sliding the menu back infront of Nazuna now, expression unreadable.

 

“Itsuki, it’s fine. I’m not picky.” The menu was pushed back towards the sovereign.

 

“Nito, I can assure you it would be better for you to pick.” Towards the rabbit.

 

“I dont want to. Pick for me.” Nazuna sighed, heavy, and placed the menu on the seat next to him, refusing to look at it now. He crossed his arms, a pout across his face now. Why was Shu always so impossible?

 

Shu’s eyes widened for a moment before not saying another word, now looking for something Nito would like. 

 

More awkward silence followed after. Nazuna nervously played with his fingers underneath the table. Soon enough, a waiter came by and asked for their drinks and if they chose anything. Shu cleared his throat.

 

“Ah… yes. I would like the  _ chicken cordon bleu skillet. _ Do hold back on the parsley though. As for Nito…” he paused, before carefully handing his menu towards the waiter. “He’d like _ roasted red pepper penne.  _ If I may request, could those peppers be diced? Oh, and there will be no spinach in this dish. Nito does not have a liking for it. The pasta must be tender and make sure the sauce is at the right consistency; not too thick but not too runny… and-”

 

Nazuna could even sense the waiter rolling his eyes as he stopped listening to Shu’s rambling himself. He almost wanted to shrink away from Shu’s theatrics, but realize he brought this upon himself. 

 

Once alone again, though, Nazuna straightened up a little and glanced at Shu now.

 

“...You remembered I didn’t like spinach.” He quietly commented.

 

Shu seemed taken aback by the response. A single pink eyebrow was lifted, before Shu looked away now, embarrassed.

 

“Of course I did, especially after the fuss you made once.”

 

Nazuna smiled at the memory. 

 

“Ah.. but you made a bigger fuss at me not cutting the tomatoes right.”

 

“Nito, you weren't dicing them like the recipe called for??” Shu gasped, offended. 

 

Both of them were smiling now, the mood easing a little.

 

“Mm. Remember that time we tried to re-organize the library in one night and that one stack of non-fiction books fell over onto me and you spent 10 minutes trying to dig me out?” Nazuna giggled softly. Shu had been sipping his water, but was now oogling Nazuna with wide eyes, as if he was crazy.

 

“N-Nito?! That was scary, why would you laugh at that?!” 

 

“Because it was funny. You kept checking me for bruises and acting like I was dying.” Nazuna felt warm at the memory, remember the gentle touch of Shu while he had stripped his cardigan off of him and his thumbs grazed his skin, in search of any flaws that could have been present. His stomach clenched but in a good way. 

 

“Well over 80 books fell on top of you, what else was I suppose to do?! You are fairly small and I couldn’t even see you once they fell! You haven’t grown much since high school, you know? I was concerned that the books swallowed you up.”

 

“Uh huuuuuh…” Nazuna placed a hand under his chin, feet swinging as he stared at the other. “You can just say you were worried about me, Itsuki~” 

 

Shu got notably red at that, even reaching his ears. He huffed dramatically, waving his hand and turned away from Nito’s smug gaze. 

 

The silence was comfortable now.

 

…

 

Dinner ended much too fast and Shu was walking Nazuna up to his doorstep now, smiles on both of their faces and Nazuna was laughing at something Shu was fumbling about. The blond took a couple of steps up to his door, leaving Shu behind as he stayed away from entering. He watched the blond a little sadly. Despite promising himself he would toss these forbidden feelings aside… being with Nito always made those feelings surge; the same feelings that kept Shu up at night thinking of how blissful it would be if Nito was there beside him, sleeping peacefully, like he had in the past. Nazuna was always the cutest when he slept; no, he was always the cutest, no matter what he was doing… but especially when he was sleeping. The drool that would escape the corner of his lip and the small, tired noises he’d make in the midst of his sleep; Shu found all of it ethereal because it was Nito. Only Nito could make drooling cute, after all. 

 

Nazuna reached a hand towards his door handle before he paused, turning to meet Shu now. His expression was soft but unreadable. Shu tilted his head. 

 

“N-Nito?” He questioned. 

 

Nazuna glanced down at the response, red gaze finding the concrete. His fingers curled into a small fist, fighting the urge in his feet. Anxiety filled Shu’s entire being at Nito’s tense yet questionable body language, as if the shorter of the two heard his fleeting thoughts about stroking Nito’s cheek while he slept. Surely Nito would want to hit him after hearing such a thing.

 

And now, he was surely stepping down from the steps and coming closer. Shu wanted to step back, to apologize, to fumble some sort of apology and spill out how guilty he felt for how cold he had been, for all the times he ignored him, for all the times he didn’t tell Nito how he felt. 

 

But Nazuna was within arm's length, placing two hands firmly on Shu’s shoulders and lifting himself on his toes. Red met violet briefly before the other was pressing a gentle kiss against his cheek. It lasted for a couple of seconds, longer than a cheek kiss should be. The action surely stirred something within him, stomach fluttering in the sweetest of ways and now Shu really was blushing. Nazuna pulled back, slowly, refusing to look at Shu now as his head hung a little to hide the redness on his own cheeks. 

 

“Goodnight, Itsuki.” He whispered, voice soft as he turned now to retreat into his home. Shu’s eyes were wide, black pupils pushing it’s violet irises almost completely out of the picture. Sweaty and shaky, Shu was rooted to his spot for a good couple of minutes, trying to exactly process what had just happened, but gosh, his body responded in the one way that he could muster. And that was to place a hand over the lingering warmth on his cheek, from Nito’s blessed touch, a smile making its way onto his lips. 

 

Although unbelievable Nazuna would return any feelings for him, Shu was happy. Content. Little did he know, a red face rabbit was pressed against the other side of the very door he was left staring at, silently wishing to embrace the other more.

 

And when Shu got a text, he felt himself being pulled from his brain going into overdrive.

 

_ ‘Meet me at ‘the’ place tomorrow before classes. Coffee is on me 🐇”  _

 

…

 

It was confirmation.

 

That somehow... Somehow, things would be okay.  

**Author's Note:**

> ungggn please leave comments or kudos...
> 
> follow my twit @shunazuna for more shnz yelling...


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